


Study Lag

by Cinerari



Category: Captain Harlock
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Gen, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-04
Updated: 2018-12-04
Packaged: 2019-09-07 03:08:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16845940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cinerari/pseuds/Cinerari
Summary: Harlock and Tochiro have a bad time with exams.





	Study Lag

**Author's Note:**

> This is an old prompt-fill for "cooking together" and "napping." I totally forgot I wrote this, but it might just be the most honest thing I've ever written.

“You know, I just thought of something.”

“What’s that?”

“I don’t have to take exams if I’m dead.”

Well, that was some impeccable logic if I’d ever heard it, but he probably could have convinced me of anything at this point. I’d read the same page seven times without any of the words reaching my brain. I’d survived on nothing but coffee for the past two days, and my stomach felt like it was filled with acid. When I glanced back over my shoulder to make sure Tochiro was still breathing, I found him face-down in his textbook – one of the thick ones, probably made a good pillow.

“Maybe next time don’t take eight classes,” I said.

He wheezed some sort of response.

“When’s the last time you ate?” I asked. Not that I had any room to talk, but he was worse at keeping himself alive than I was. Keeping him fed would be enough of an excuse to take a break so I could eat too.

“I’unno,” he answered. That was good enough for me.

Standing, I stretched the knots from my back and strode over to him. He howled a weak “no,” as I dragged him out of his chair.

“Ramen?” I asked as I hauled him over to our meager food cabinet.

“I’ve eaten so much ramen I think my blood is broth.”

“Macaroni and cheese?”

“Gross.”

“Tomato soup?”

“Why do you hate me?”

“Well, what do you want?”

His brows pinched behind those thick glasses of his. “…Pancakes,” he decided.

I let out a puff of air, trying to remember if we had all the required ingredients for pancakes. “What does our instant mix call for?”

“Just water.”

“Modern technology is a blessing.”

“Don’t have any syrup or butter though.”

“Damn.”

“Got jelly.”

“Fuck it, it’ll work.”

Contrary to dorm policies, I pulled out our hot plate from the back of our cabinet of precariously-stacked dishes. The only outlet close enough to a surface for the cord to reach was by the bathroom sink. I cared so little at this point, I could have eaten off the floor.

Tochiro set to work measuring out the powdery mix and water. I was a little worried he might fall asleep in the batter once he started stirring. A yawn caught him every few seconds, which made me yawn too.

“Stop it,” I demanded.

“I can’t help it. I see you yawning, and then I have to yawn.”

“Don’t blame this on me,” I said through another yawn.

“I can’t wait to sleep for five years after exams are over.”

“What does it even feel like to sleep?”

The trouble with us making pancakes, which I didn’t recall until after we’d poured the first one out into the pan, was that we didn’t own a spatula. Well, we used to own a spatula, but it was plastic and melted into a pan we’d left it sitting on.

This was why we usually ate cup ramen.

“So how are we going to flip it?” Tochiro asked as we watched the bubbles begin to form.

“You’re the engineer here.”

He did that frown that twisted all his features. It was a sure sign that he was really thinking on the issue, but given the state of our brains, I don’t know why I expected a revelation.

“What if we did the whole…?” He mimicked putting his hand around the pan’s handle and flicking up. “You’re pretty dexterous and stuff.”

“But you’ve taken all the physics classes.”

We spent a few moments staring at each other, waiting for someone to brave flipping the pancake. In the end, Tochiro grabbed for it. “Well I’m not going to let it burn.”

“Should I pray?” I asked.

“Please, like you’re religious. We’d get smited or something.”

“A good excuse to miss exams.”

“I don’t think my professors would accept it.”

With his tongue poking out on one side, he took a deep breath, and gave it a shot.

The pancake did not move.

I snapped my fingers as the realization hit. “Oh, I didn’t put any oil in the pan.”

“Harlock, why?” he sighed.

“Listen, we’ll just flip it with a fork or something.”

I would have used one of the covers from my hardcover books, but they were all rentals, so that was out. Our pancakes all turned out with odd, lumpy shapes because we never could get the fork trick to work right. Eating them with strawberry jelly wasn’t half bad though. We sat on the lower bunk, my bed, and took turns pulling from the huge stack of ugly pancakes we’d made using all the mix left in the box.

“I forgot how much I love food,” Tochiro said before shoving another half a pancake in his mouth.

“It’s almost like we need it to survive or something,” I said.

“Whoa, slow down there. They’ll kick you out of school for being too smart.”

I squinted as I considered the idea. “That makes no sense.”

“Look, I’m trying to be funny. I’m too tired to make sense.”

Another good point. Couldn’t argue with him there.

Another trouble with us making pancakes was that the carbs knocked out what little grasp we had left on being awake. Tochiro fell asleep first, his head knocked against my arm. I should have woken him up. There was so much studying to be done. All those tests and papers.

…But fuck that, I decided.

Letting my head rest back against the wall, I closed my eyes. If I moved to go get my textbook, Tochiro would wake up, and he really needed to get some rest.

Yeah, I’d stay put for him.


End file.
